Assassin from Hell
by Sarcastic Innocence
Summary: A girl has found herself in Rael on an assassination mission, but in a strange twist of events, she finds herself captured by a goofy stalker and a perhaps too lazy gunslinger. Will she escape home, or will she decide to help the two on their own mission?
1. Rael

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_** If you don't like perverse stories, or swearing, this fic isn't for you.**_

_**Seriously.**_

_**Don't say I didn't warn you.**_

_**Chapter One: Rael**_

The state of Arunafeltz's capital was Rael. Better known as Rachel, but Ying always thought Rael sounded better. Rael was nice, very religious, mind you, but it was nice. There were green plants growing, though there wasn't much water. But _fuck_, Rael was hot and humid in the summer. Even hotter than sandy _Morroc_, where Ying was trained most of her life. Ying hated the heat. Sure, Payon was warm, a little humid in the summer, but it wasn't blistering hot. The heat of anything metal in Rael could easily fry an egg. Payon had tall mountains covered in trees, and Rael had… dust. Brown. Ying hated the sandy brown colours of Rael. And Rael was small, compared to Payon.

Originally born Hou YingFa, translation, River Cherry in a small poor village by Louyang, Ying had stolen to live, becoming an accomplished thief. However, she was caught one day and sent to Morroc after her skills at thievery were found out. He name was changed to simply Ying, or Shadow in Morroc. She was recruited into Hell when she was sixteen years old.

Hell was a new, been only around for a few months, but already infamous guild with its base set in the tall shadowed trees of Payon. Hell usually sent their newer members on odd jobs like sending goods and escorting individuals. Their elites were the most sought after for assassinations, bodyguards and other risky situations. She was youngest in the elite team. Hell had a high reputation as a guild. Rumors spread quickly of the twenty-six year old champion leader. There were also rumors of the elite, the Shadow of Hell and the power Hell had hidden behind its kind outer shell. Hell's elite never showed their faces in public. Or at least, they never had anything on them symbolizing that they were from Hell. At home, all of Hell's members wore Payonese clothing, their professional uniforms were all put away unless they went on missions, and still, they did not wear them until they reached the mission's destination. Hell didn't even have a guild logo, something that made the members of the guild wonder if the leader wanted any attention in the first place. Hell did not try at all to take over Greenwood Lake. Hell was powerful, but no one knew all Hell wanted was peace.

Payon was a peaceful city, if you ignored its past, anyway. The fields outside of Payon were perfect for picnics, which is what some members of Hell did a lot. Ying loved relaxing under the shadow of the trees, letting the soft breeze play with her hair. She loved watching bubbles she blew while playing with the city's children drift slowly into the sky.

On some days that were cloudless, Ying and her boyfriend, Aslan, would sit under the trees of Payon, hand in hand. On others, Ying watched the newbies of Hell train, taking them to places that weren't too strong, but also not too weak, killing the MVPs as she ran into them. And on some days, Lucifer would group everyone in their meeting room and discuss the progress of the newbies, the progress of the guild, and sometimes, to talk about the missions he was going to assign to people.

This was one of those days. Lucifer stood at the front of the table, holding a stack of papers. "We've got a mission," he said. "It is to eliminate a high priest." He passed a photograph to the person on his right; then looked around. "A place to stay will be provided," he added.

"Ying, you'll be going to Rachel for this mission," Lucifer had said. Ying blinked and turned to the assassin of the Cross beside her, then back to the champion. "Butbutbut…" she began to protest, but the assassin beside her smiled. "Come on, it'll be okay." Ying turned back to him. "I don't want to leave you, Aslan," she mumbled, burrowing her head in his chest. Aslan wrapped his arms around her. "Promise you'll write?" she asked. He nodded. Lucifer sighed, breaking the two out of their cuddling. "If you go," he said, "and do a good job, I'll get you some of that strawberry chocolate you like. Okay?"

_Damn that Lucifer and his bribe._

Lucifer grinned and handed her an airship ticket. "You'll go to Izlude and take the airship to Rachel, alright?" Ying nodded. "You will find a Mye and tell her that Hell has sent the Shadow. Mye has already provided clothing for you- clothing which is more appropriate for Rachel than Payon." He gestured to her clothing. "Don't wear that to Rachel. We don't want to get anyone unneeded into this." She nodded, "Yes sir."

"You leave tomorrow. Pack your things."


	2. A fatal error

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Two: A fatal error**_

The assassin of the Cross shielded her eyes from the sunlight as she walked down the main streets of Rael. She recalled how the street vendors shouted, trying to attract attention to their shops. Ying turned back into the house she was to stay for the rest of her visit, dropped her purse, and opened the closet in the room she had been given. Inside was some light clothing. Ying pulled out the first thing she saw- a sleeveless loose necked gray dress, the silver threads that were mixed in shimmering in the light. The assassin tied her wet black hair into a ponytail and changed out of her plain white clothing, now brown with sand. She slipped into heeled sandals, tied a dagger on her leg, tossed the other one in her purse, and walked outside into the living room. "Mye," Ying greeted. Mye, a high priestess about forty years Ying's senior, turned at the sound. Mye nodded.

The high priestess and the assassin walked down the streets together. They approached a flower market. "Look at the flowers, dear," Mye said, pointing at pots of lilies, "aren't they nice? It's said that the flowers need to be delivered very early in the morning, because any later, and they would die from the heat." Ying nodded and wandered towards some roses. Though it was just an act, it was nice to have a motherly figure around, a person who Ying had not seen since she had been taken away from her since that day she had been sent to Morroc.

Mye continued down the street, but Ying stopped. She turned to look around the square. She saw a man dressed in the clothing of a high priest, the same colours of the one she had seen in the photograph. She ran towards the man and bumped into him. She fell to the ground, and, inconspicuously to the others around her, purposely pulled down on her dress while shifting the dress to land under her knees, ripping the fabric slightly, revealing a good deal of her shoulder. The neckline of her dress fell down to just above her breast. "A-Are you okay?" The high priest asked, a crimson red blush streaking across his face. Ying nodded. "I think so," she said softly. The high priest offered a hand, and Ying accepted, smiling shyly, the dress now giving the perverted priest a good long look. He blushed deeper. Ying looked down at her gray clothing and sighed. "It's ruined," she began to sob. "My mother's going to be quite upset." The high priest smiled foolishly. "I can take you home and explain what happened, if you'd like." Ying's eyes lit up. "Really?" she exclaimed. He nodded. "Really. Lead the way."

Ying lead the high priest into an alley. She turned to face him. He smiled and raised a hand to her cheek. She smiled in return. His hand slipped to under her loose dress. The high priest placed light kisses down her neck. She gasped and pulled him closer.

The assassin pulled out her dagger, turning it into an angle so it glinted in the darkness, and at the same time, swiftly tore off the hem of her dress. She vanished in a blink of the high priest's eye and reappeared behind him, strangling him by tying his hands behind him. The fabric bonding his hands together was wrapped tightly around his neck. She appeared infront of him. Her moonlight dagger plunged into his chest. She twisted so the blade was vertical. The sickening sound of cracking bones filled the air as she effortlessly guided the dagger through two of his ribs, slicing his heart in half in the process. She pushed the high priest to the ground and knelt down beside him, wiping her blade on his priest clothing. Ying looked at his face, a mask of shock.

A young male, about twenty, lay on the ground, blood seeping out of the large wound. He wore a bloodstained priest's outfit.

Not the clothing of a _high_ priest.

That was when she realized.

She'd killed the wrong person.

_Fuck._

Going on with the plan, she returned her dagger to its original position, placed a hand on her chest and rushed out of the alley, screaming for help. Passerbys turned, rushing towards her. "A man tried to rape me," she said breathlessly, "and the kind man tried to stop him but…" she pretended to look faint.

Ying turned to return home alone, despite some of the townsfolk offering to accompany her. Mye stood at the door, awaiting her arrival. Ying bowed slightly and entered, not noticing a stalker had followed her all the way home.

Furthermore, he had seen the black cherry blossom tattoo Ying had on her back.


	3. A close call

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Three: A Close Call  
**_

The assassin of the Cross collapsed into a sofa in the living room. She groaned. "Lucifer isn't going to like this," she mumbled. She lay a hand on her forehead. Mye sat gently beside her. "Accidents happen," she soothed, "and it's very common for the Holy to look alike." She pulled the assassin up into a sitting position. "Come, let's get you changed."

A few days went by without much happening. Ying and Mye sat in their living room, Mye reading her Bible, Ying writing a letter to Aslan. On the top, it looked like a simple letter sent to each other by lovers, mind you, it really was, but when the thick paper was split in half, beneath the letter was another, written in ancient Payonese text, reporting what had happened. Ying and Mye were dressed in the Payonese clothing Ying had brought along.

There was a knock on the door. Ying put away her letter and slipped into the kitchen. Mye went to greet the visitors. Two men stood at the door, one in black and silver clothing, the other in a black and white fur trimmed jacket. 'A gunslinger and a stalker,' Ying thought. "Hello, what brings you here?" Mye asked pleasantly. "Where's that brat from Hell?" the stalker asked. Mye blinked. "Whoever are you talking about?" The gunslinger moved his arm towards one of his guns. "Don't act stupid, woman. We know the Shadow of Hell is here," he growled. Mye shook her head. "In all honesty, I don't know what you're talking about." She gestured to the living room.

"Please, let's clear this confusion up over tea," Mye said with a smile. "YingFa," she called. Ying took a deep breath, smoothed out her light blue clothing and walked out into the hall. "Yes?" she asked politely. "Please prepare some tea for our guests. They must be thirsty." The assassin bowed. "Yes, mother."

Mye guided the two men into the living room and seated them on the couch. She sat on the opposite side of the table. "About this… Shadow of Hell." Mye began. "Whatever do you mean?" The stalker rolled his eyes. Mye simply blinked at him. He blinked in return. "You really don't know, huh." Mye shook her head. "Let us start off with what Hell is, then," the stalker sighed.

Ying stood in the kitchen, watching the water bubble in the glass water kettle that sat on the stove. As steam rose, she gently lifted it off the fire and poured it into a smaller teapot. She opened a tin of tea leaves and dropped some in. She let it set for a few moments; then poured out four cups. Her eyes shifted to the cupboard. Ying's poison bottles were inside. 'No,' Ying thought. 'If they die here, we would be in a deeper mess than we are in now.' She picked up the tray and walked into the living room, placing it on the table.

"There's also the rumor of the Shadow of Hell," the stalker said as Ying entered with the tea. "A young woman with long black hair. A black tattoo on her back. Your daughter fits the requirements." Mye gasped. "It's impossible! YingFa has not joined any guilds, I forbade her from doing so, even when we were in Payon." The gunslinger raised an eyebrow. "Did you know she's killed someone?" Mye stared at Ying. Ying shook her head. "I have not."

The stalker took a sip of his tea. "It's Pu-erh tea," Ying said. "Might be a little bitter, I haven't let it seep all the way through yet." Mye turned to Ying. "Have you heard of a guild named Hell?" Ying nodded, causing the stalker and the gunslinger to look at her. "I've heard people at my store talk about the guild. They said it is quite infamous. Apart from that, nothing." The assassin picked up her teacup. "I am a merchant," she added. "Yes, I carry a weapon, but it is only to defend myself, and to threaten the thieves."

The gunslinger raised an eyebrow. "Let's take a look at that dagger." He said. Ying nodded. "Certainly." She stood up, left the room and entered her own. She picked up her moonlight dagger and swiftly returned with it in her hands. She handed it to the gunslinger. He grabbed it and turned it in his hands, then removed the fabric covering the dagger. He blinked and fingered the lettering on the hilt. "Eremes Guile…" he mumbled. Ying nodded. "That's right. It was a gift I received when I was younger." The stalker leaned on the gunslinger's shoulder and peered at the dagger. "How did you get this?" Ying shrugged. "Simple." Two pairs of eyes stared blankly at her. "Eremes Guile came to visit Payon one day with his wife. A nice high wizard, you know. Anyway, I knew her, the high wizard, I mean, and she gave the dagger to me as a parting present, since they were leaving to travel the rest of Rune-Midgard." Ying blinked with perfect honesty. After all, it wasn't a lie. The dagger really had been given to her as a gift from a high wizard and an assassin of the Cross. The heroes of the Somatology.

The gunslinger stood up, nudging the stalker. "Let's go," he said to his companion. "There's nothing else we can get from them." The stalker put down his tea and stood to his feet as well. He shot a sharp glare at Ying. "We'll be watching you." Ying stood, bowed, and showed them out the door. "Ah, one last thing before you leave," Mye said kindly yet with an air of a threat, before the two left, "If you ever come in here uninvited using your cloaking skill," she said, "I'll know." She smiled.

"Have a nice day; the two of you."


	4. At risk

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Four: At risk**_

Mye pulled Ying into her bedroom after the two guests had left. "You've put us at risk!" she hissed. Ying simply shrugged. "I was careless to not realize someone was following me. I'll be more careful in the future."

It was a calm night. The stars twinkled in the sky. Calm. Serenity. Ying sat up from her bed. "It's too hot to sleep." She mumbled. She shuffled in the dark to the window and opened it all the way. The wind of the cold night air flew in quickly. Not finding it enough, she decided to go outside. She cracked open her door slightly. Hushed voices could be heard in the living room. She cloaked herself and quietly tiptoed into the hall, leaning tightly against the wall. Mye sat on the sofa, the gunslinger from the morning before on the other side.

"The Shadow of Hell will die, rest assured," Mye said with a faint smile. "She will still look for the high priest we've assigned her to assassinate. Won't it be a treat when she learns there is no such man?" The gunslinger nodded. "I shall report this to our leader. After the Shadow of Hell dies, we will make Hell fall, and Hearts will gain the recognition we deserve!" Mye's eyes widened. She slipped silently back into her room, packed a change of clothing, some money and her daggers. She quickly wrote an additional message to her guild, slipped it into her letter, cloaked herself again and ran to the streets of Rael through the window.

The assassin ran towards the center of the square. "No," she thought. "The stalker can find me there." She sighed. "Where can I go… I would have to at least wait until the morning until I go to the airship." The outskirts of Rael were dangerous, especially at night. Even in the morning, Ying had to deal with thieves and monsters alike, and now, it would be more dangerous; Hearts had people after her. An ambush in a place she was not used to was quite high, and she had no idea how many people could be hiding in the short grasses outside Rael on the way to the airship.

Ying rushed towards a hotel. Making sure no one was after her, she slipped into a room. There was one thing she had to do for sure; something that would give her a chance of getting out of Rael alive. She pulled out her moonlight dagger, and, gripping it with her right hand, and locks of her hair with her left, she cut her black hair until it hung at her shoulders instead of the middle of her back. She shortened her shoulder length bangs until they covered her eyes. She tore a strip off of the fabric that was wrapped around the dagger and tied her hair into pigtails. With this all done, she slipped onto the floor of the bathroom and fell into a restless sleep.

The sun was high up in the middle of the sky when Ying awoke. She changed out of her light blue clothing and into a pale pink, almost white dress.

Back on the streets of Rael, the sun's rays were harsh. In the sun, it would be easy to find a certain person, if it's a definite manhunt, especially if they're wearing clothes you'd expect them to wear.

That's it.

No wonder she couldn't find the assassination target

There really was no high priest.

He didn't exist.

It was just a doppelganger.

A doppelganger summoned from a bloody branch, then forced into the clothing of a high priest.

Fuck it.

But what to do now...

Ying entered a shop and bought a parasol, a desperate attempt to stop Hearts from following her. But she couldn't leave just yet. She rushed to the post office to mail her letter, then to the heart of Rael; the sanctuary.

The sanctuary was beautiful. White stones paved the grounds. Four pillars rose into the sky. The area was surrounded by a fence, green bushes growing all around. A tall blue building, the precinct, stood at the end of the walkway, which had three small pools embedded into the middle. A bridge spanned across the middle pool, and moon crescent lamp posts surrounded both sides of the walkway. Ying sat on the edge of the last pool, dragging her fingertips through the cool water. She gazed at her reflection. A child stared back. An innocent child who had no fear of killing, a child who had not even once picked up a dagger…

The water flashed a blood red for a moment before Ying's eyes. Her eyes widened in shock. She stood up, placing both hands at her temples.

A statue of Freya stood before the precinct. She closed her parasol and knelt before it, her hands in prayer. "People would be suspicious if I left without doing so," she thought. She lowered her head and closed her eyes. That was the only split second when she let off her guard.

The crack of a gunshot filled the air.

Ying felt a pain pierce through her chest.

She collapsed.


	5. Under Rachel's Precinct

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Five: Under Rachel's precinct**_

The place where Ying awoke was dark and cold. She felt a stab of pain in her chest. She tried to move a hand to touch it, but her hands wouldn't budge; they were tied above her head. She turned her head sideways. Everything was at a weird angle, so she wasn't sitting. She was lying on something soft. Ying heard a shuffling sound. A familiar voice spoke.

"You awake?" asked the chair beside her.

"No," Ying answered dully. The voice laughed. "What's up?" the assassin rolled her eyes and looked up. "The ceiling. I see cracks. And water stains, ew."

"Boo, you're no fun," The stalker appeared on the chair. "I don't think you'd be very happy either if you were tied to whatever the fuck I'm tied to right now and stuck lying sideways," she retorted. The stalker grinned. "Hey, someone's gotta make sure you don't run away, and it's not gonna be me."

Ying sighed. It was going to be a long day.

She felt something tugging at her wrists. The binding came loose. Ying sat up and pressed the heel of her hand onto her forehead. "Finally," she groaned. "That was giving me a total headache."

"Where _am_ I, exactly?" Ying asked when her head stopped spinning. "You're in Rachel's precinct," the stalker replied, still grinning. Ying blinked. "Oh."

Suddenly, the stalker's stomach growled. His face quickly flushed red. "Er, uh… you hungry?" he asked. Ying shrugged. "Not really." The stalker blinked. "Well, uh, I'm going to get some food. Can you wait here?" Ying shrugged again. "I've got nothing better to do. If I run out, someone's going to catch me, anyway." The stalker smirked. "True that."

The stalker returned a half hour later with a sandwich and a cup of milk tea. "I hope this fits your taste," he commented cheerily. "I'm not very good at cooking, but I think this turned out okay." Ying raised an eyebrow. "Making a sandwich has no requirement of any cooking experience," she said a matter-of-factly. "It's just two slices of bread and butter, covering whatever the hell you want to put between it. The only cooking you would need in a sandwich is if you wanted to put in something cooked in it; eggs, tuna, salmon, whatever..."

The stalker's eyes lit up. "Does that mean you can cook?" The assassin blinked, trying to stop herself from asking questions like, "_Are you stupid?_" or "_How the hell did you survive in this place before?_" Instead, she answered with, "Yeah, why?"

"That's great! We can finally get a good meal tonight!"

"Er… Wouldn't your comrades think a little weird if their captive was the one who cooked the dinner?"

The stalker blinked. "Well…Er… You don't have your poisons with you, right?" Ying shook her head. "Nope, I left them all at the house." That caused another smirk from the stalker. "_And you said you were a merchant,_" he commented smugly. Ying simply glared at him.

Ying sat there for a moment. She moved her hand to her chest. A blood stained bullet hole remained on her clothing, but the scar beneath the clothing was already nearly gone. "It was hard for us to make sure that wouldn't get infected," the stalker said quietly when he saw her inspect her clothing. "I made sure the priests took out the bullet and healed you, but their healing powers apparently aren't as strong as someone like Mye's."

Ying stood up. "I've been in worse."

"Ever been caught by an opposing guild then forced to cook for them?" Another grin.

A pause. "No."

"Thought so." Ying resisted an urge to stick out her tongue at him.

He laughed. "Come on. Kitchen's this way."

The kitchen was quite large, bigger than the kitchen in Hell's base. Ying blinked. "It's huge," she commented. The stalker grinned. "The four of us will have dinner in two hours. I'm looking forward to it." He vanished before Ying could say another word, leaving the assassin to explore the kitchen.

Ying opened the fridge. Beef, some vegetables, cheese, butter, milk. Cream. A bottle of pink liquid. She opened the bottle. It smelled sweet. Strawberry juice. She turned to the corner. Rice. Excellent. The assassin looked at the fruits. Strawberries. Kiwifruit. She turned to the pantry. Flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baker's chocolate. Cake icing and icing sugar. Perfect.

Ying picked up a knife. It was going to be beautiful.

She filled a pot with water on the stove, then placed a glass bowl on top. Ying waited until the water began to bubble, then threw in pieces of the chocolate, mixing it slowly, and pouring in milk so it wouldn't be so sweet and thick. When it was smooth, she poured in a little juice.

Ying reached up to grab another bowl. She poured in flour, sugar and mixed in two eggs and some melted butter. She put in a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of baking powder. When that was all done, she gently mixed in the chocolate.

The batter was poured into two pans, and put into the oven to bake.

While she waited for the cake to bake, Ying made a simple fried rice with the beef and vegetables, then put some broccoli and cheese into a pan to bake next to the other pans. When those were finished, she left them in the oven on a "keep warm" temperature.

Ying cut the strawberries and the kiwi into small chunks and mixed it with the cream. When the two cakes came out, she sandwiched the fruit mix between the two, then covered the cake with icing, then layered the top with slices of the remaining strawberries.

Ying looked at the time. Fifteen minutes left. She put the cake on the table and took the two other plates out of the oven, then started working on cleaning the kitchen equipment.

A young priest wandered into the kitchen while Ying was cleaning. "I smell something good," he mumbled. "Hey? Shiro? You guys here?" He stared at the assassin, did a double take, then delicately raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you doing here?" Ying shrugged. "That stalker guy made me cook." The priest replied with a blank gaze. His eyes shifted to the three edible dishes on the corner of the table. His face broke into a wide grin, his eyes lightening up.

"Ooh! Cake!"

"Just help me move those to wherever it should go and I'll give you the biggest piece later, okay?

"You promised!"

It was like talking to a child, and bribing them to do work by offering candy or toys.

She picked up the dish of rice and followed the priest into a room. A large table sat in the middle, surrounded by about twenty chairs placed quite far apart. Ying quickly measured the distance between the chairs mentally, there could be at least twenty more placed in the gaps.

Ying placed the plate next to the vegetables. "So," she said, trying to hide the curiosity in her voice, "The stalker guy said there was only four people here. So…where's the rest of your guild?" The priest laughed. "In Veins," he replied, "Where in Veins, I can't tell you unless you join us. This is our old base, but we keep people around so no other guild comes and takes over, thinking we abandoned the place."

"I like this place more than Veins anyway," he added, "It's not as desert-y, and Veins totally reminds me of a hotter and drier Morroc."

Ying couldn't stop herself from laughing slightly as well. "Makes sense." She turned back to face the table. "Mind getting everyone else down here?"

The stalker appeared in a flash, hair in disarray, clothing in a mess. Ying raised an eyebrow. Trying to shift her eyes away from him, she scanned the room.

"Where's that gunslinger guy?" Ying asked.

The stalker grinned in the corner of her eye. "Allow me."

Finally, a few "DINNER'S READY!", a "GODDAMNIT YOU LAZY ASSHOLE GET YOUR FUCKING ASS DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" and a two minutes later, all four temporary residents of Rachel's Sacred Precinct were seated at the right corned of the table, the bruised gunslinger and a priest sitting side by side on the length side, the stalker and Ying on the width.

The priest motioned for all to close their eyes in prayer. Ying bowed her head and clasped her hands onto her lap, but kept her eyes open.

"Freya, we thank you deeply for the meal we are going to have tonight. We thank you deeply for our guest you have sent to us safely-"

A quiet snicker from the stalker. The priest shot him a glare.

"And the shelter you have provided us. We ask for you to watch over us, keep us safe until we return to you."

Ying lifted her head as the three men finished together with, "Amen".

* * *

Note:

Mind you it really is possible to make a cake in an hour forty five.


	6. Strawberry Chocolate

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Five and a Half: Strawberry Chocolate**_

**Inspired by my trip to Tokyo at the beginning of the month. **

There were a few things Ying loved. Of course her top love at the moment was Aslan, her boyfriend and fellow assassin of the Cross from Hell, but she loved many simple things, such as sleep, swimming and bubbles.

And strawberry chocolate. 

Ying adored strawberry chocolate. It was, after all, like life, the sweetness of the smooth chocolate and the tangy sourness of strawberry. Most of all, it was a light colour, a change from Ying's typical colours of the neutral tones and the camouflage. Pink let Ying be a little girly, too. It let her be free from her assassin duties and most of all, let her be the person she really was inside.

Unfortunately, strawberry chocolate was hard to find, especially the kind that were round and individually wrapped. On Ying's trip to Amatsu, she had picked up a box, curious to what it would taste like. To her surprise, she fell in love with it quickly. When Ying returned to Hell, her new home in Payon, the only strawberry chocolate she found was a cream coating that covered thin cookie sticks. Ying loved those too, since there were candied dried strawberry pieces stuck to the creamy pink coating.

Strawberry chocolate, mind you, wasn't the same as strawberries in chocolate. Fresh strawberries were never as sweet and never mixed into the chocolate the way the strawberry chocolate tasted.

Lucifer, the leader of Hell went on many trips to Amatsu, as one of their permanent clients resided there. Whenever he went, he would always bring a box of the strawberry chocolate home, as well as a box of macha green tea chocolate.

Strawberry chocolate was also like love. The sweetness was like a couple sitting under a tree, but the sourness was like one rejected by the one they love.

When the chocolate is first put into the mouth, the sourness comes out right away, then slowly melts into the sweetness.

It was sundown. The sun began to drift slowly into the horizon, its orange light spilling everywhere, but the icy blue sky above the heads of the two assassins remained untouched by the orange hue.

The taller, a boy with hair a shade lighter than the orange sunrays pulled the shorter into a hug. He unwrapped a pink candy and, with his companion's protests, placed it on his tongue. The girl frowned. He smiled warmly and lowered his face to hers, placing a hand on the back of her head as lips locked.

The chocolate melted as it moved from one person to another, and the kiss melted into a strawberry chocolate bliss.


	7. Nighttime Stroll

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Six: Nighttime Stroll**_

Dinner finished wonderfully at the Rachel Precinct. The sun had fallen and Rael was swallowed up by darkness of the night.

Ying sat outside the temple, her feet dangling in the pool of water. She leaned back to look up into the sky. The thick navy blue velvet-like sky was shimmering with stars, a sight that was, to the assassin, not only beautiful, but also quite terrifying. Ying fought back a shiver and sat up.

She heard a familiar voice.

"What are you doing out here alone?"

A tall male appeared beside and sat down beside her. He was dressed in a black jacket with a thick white fur lining, his snowy white hair covered with a cap.

Ying dipped a finger into the pool and idly drew circles on the ground with the water. "Couldn't sleep." She looked up into the sky again.

"It's nice out here."

The male smiled. "It is," he agreed.

"So what are you doing here?"

He laughed. "I'm always out here at night. It's peaceful." She nodded. "And because…" he began, but stopped himself. Ying turned to look at him. His face was covered by the shadow of his cap, but his eyes glittered in the darkness. He shook his head. "It's nothing."

Ying looked at him curiously but said nothing. She turned her eyes to look at her surroundings. Rael at night was more beautiful than it was in the daytime. The large statue of Freya was bathed in light, her blue forehead jewel glowed and shimmered from the light. The blue crystals around the temple were also illuminated; the rotating blue-purple crystals by the doorway seemed enchanting.

The lamps on the arches by the pathways were also lit with a soft orange glow.

Lamps illuminated the water, making it seem to glow. The shadows of the water trailing after Ying's movements were serene. By the water, Rael didn't seem as hot as it normally was.

Ying closed her eyes. Everything here was so peaceful, so soft. The glows from everything made it so calm.

"You like it, huh?"

Ying nodded, her eyes still closed.

"It's why we chose this place at first. When we first came here, it was nighttime. Our leader was entranced by everything you see here."

Ying nodded again.

"We loved it so much we asked if we could also help out with the temple; our priests would help with the sermons and baptisms," he continued. "It was wonderful. We had a place to stay and something that would hide our status as a guild."

Ying opened her eyes and stared into the water. "So why did they leave?" she asked.

"Our leader had an argument of one of the priestesses of the temple." She heard his voice harden. "The priestess died in an 'accident' a few weeks later, and the leader forced everyone to move to Veins."

The assassin blinked. "But," she said softly, "Your priest told me that it was because of something else." He shrugged. "The priestess who died was his older sister; the only family he had left. Of course he wouldn't talk about what happened to just anyone. He somehow convinced Saruki to let him stay here at the temple."

"I see," was all Ying could say. "I was taken from my family too. I haven't seen them since."

"Do you miss them?"

"I don't really remember them," she replied quietly, "it's been a long time."

"How long?"

"I was seven? Eight? I don't remember now. I was taken away from my family though. Sent to Morroc. I must've forgotten everything while I was being trained." Ying sighed. "All I can remember is another thief that was my closest friend back then, my name, and where I came from. Nothing else."

"Your friend…" he echoed. "Do you remember his name? What he looks like?"

Ying closed her eyes.

She saw herself eight years younger, running with a boy with bright green eyes and snowy white hair. They laughed as they turned a corner to head home.

They opened the door. The time had fast forward again. The boy, now eleven years old, turned to Ying. "I'm leaving today," he said with a sad smile. "I'm going to become a rogue and fight for the King."

With a tearful smile, Ying waved as the boy turned and left, but before he did, he smiled again and said, "Wait here for me, alright? When you become an assassin, wait for me. I'll be back someday." "I'll marry you when I come back," he added valiantly with a smile.

Ying was now twelve. She had become an assassin, and, fulfilling her part of the promise, she returned to Morroc, but he wasn't there.

At fifteen, she had become an assassin of the Cross. Once again, she had returned to Morroc, but this time, it was in ruins…

The large pond had be engulfed with a hole, the stone pillars in the centre fallen down inside. The stone fence surrounding the pond had been destroyed, as well as the buildings. The tents that Ying was so familiar to seeing had collapsed, the lush green palm trees were brown and withered.

Ying saw a man walking down the streets, dazed. She quickly ran up to him. "What's happened here?" she asked, worried.

"The Resurrection of Satan Morroc…" He said, his voice as dazed as his eyes. "The way to another world has opened…"

He walked away.

A large opening had appeared in the ground, rocky spikes jutted out from around it. Ying crept by the edge. A red glow appeared inside. Ying could feel that it was trying to suck her in. She pushed herself up and quickly left the gates of Morroc.

_"Where should I go now?"_

A few months later, Ying found herself outside the Payon. A champion stood at the gate. He smiled warmly at her. Seeing his smile, she walked into his open arms and Hell's embrace, vowing one day to find the boy who had promised to meet her in Morroc.

Back in reality, Ying nodded. "He looked…"

She stared into his eyes.

He pulled her into a kiss.

Ying's eyes widened when the realization hit.

When realization hit, he pulled back and vanished.

The assassin pressed two fingers to her lips, looking around for the disappeared stalker.

"Just like you."


	8. Run Away

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Seven: Run Away**_

_** Crap, I skipped this chapter in uploading.  
**_

"I think I know that assassin," the stalker grumbled as he entered the gunslinger's room back in the temple, a white folded piece of paper in hand.

The gunslinger was changing out pajamas and into his gunslinger uniform when the stalker entered.

"Jesus!" the only boxers-clad gunslinger exclaimed. "Can't a man get at least a _little _privacy?" The stalker simply grinned. "Chill out, we're all guys."

"That new assassin isn't," the gunslinger replied, rolling his eyes. He pulled on the pants component of his uniform and sat on his bed. He motioned for the stalker to sit, which he did, but on the floor, cross-legged.

"So."

The stalker looked at him. "So?"

"That assassin girl. What do you know about her?"

"She reminds me of a person I knew a long time ago."

"From where?"

"That's the thing. I don't remember at all."

The gunslinger stared at him, then broke into a goofy smile.

"You liiiiike her, don'tcha?"

The stalker stared back, his face turning slightly red.

"I- I do not!"

"Bullshit," purred the gunslinger. "You _so_ do."

The gunslinger turned serious. "You remember that she has an assassin of the Cross as an, let's say, escort, do you not?"

"And…?"

"He's an assassin of the Cross for fuck's sake! Isn't that at least _remotely_ threatening?"

The stalker blinked. "No?"

"So what are you going to do, Shiro?" The gunslinger asked.

"We're going back to Veins." The stalker held up a letter. "We are ordered to return. Something's happened."

The gunslinger nodded.

"We leave tonight."

Ying hummed to herself as she cracked open an egg into a frying pan. The transparent egg whites turned opaque quickly, and the assassin folded it over with a wooden spatula once the edge of the egg did not break off easily. She lowered the temperature slightly. The best way to cook it, to Ying, was to start off at a high temperature, then lower it once it turned opaque.

That way, it wouldn't brown and harden. Ying liked eggs that weren't cooked until they were a golden brown.

She folded it over again and pushed it onto a plate, then wandered over to the fridge and absent-mindedly took out a stick of butter and a box of white mushrooms.  
Ying turned on the stove again while tossing in a chunk of butter, then waited for the butter to melt in the same pan as she rinsed the mushrooms in water.

"The cutting board's gone," she noted to herself when her arm moved in the direction of the missing small wood cutting board that was clearly there last night. Shrugging, she placed the white plants on the table and sliced them with a knife. She grabbed them all in a handful and tossed them into the butter.

She found a pair of wooden chopsticks and flipped the mushrooms over and left them on the heat until both sides were browned, then, flipping off the heat, she moved the pan to the cooler part of the stove, where she picked the mushrooms off the pan to her plate, trying as hard as she could to leave the remaining melted butter on the pan.

But it was done, so Ying placed the pan in the sink, rinsing out as much oil as possible, picked up a fork and a knife from the cutlery drawer, and moved out into the dining room with her breakfast.

Mushrooms sautéed in butter with eggs wasn't Ying's favourite breakfast, but only finding _one_ egg in the entire kitchen left her with no choice. Then again, it _was_ Ying's fault for using the other two to make a cake. Perhaps if she didn't, she'd have a nice peanut butter French toast for breakfast today instead.

She shrugged and ate quickly, then returned into the kitchen to grab a drink.

With breakfast done with, Ying decided to explore the temple. It was huge, the main floor filled with many statues of Freya. A few followers of Freya greeted her, and she simply smiled back.

Ying walked by a baptism pond, and like everything else, short and tall pillars with blue crystals stood around it.

A large room stood before her, carpeted in an olive green and gold. Gold chandeliers hung from the ceiling, embedded with large blue crystals. She continued down the hall until she entered a room with a locked gate. She picked at the lock and forced the gate open, slipped inside and down the stairs.

The Holy Ground was even more beautiful than the temple itself; there were small rooms on one side of the floor, each room with a tall platformed statue of Freya. Candles burned on both sides of each statue. The smell was smoky and sweet.

In the middle of the room, in front of a large pool stood a large winged statue of Freya, larger than the ones in every other room. Two crystal pillars stood on each side. Three arches stood behind the statue. Ying moved to the side of the pool. A platform stood out from both sides, and another platform with a few pillars stood in the middle.

As she kept exploring, she found another pool, smaller than the one with the giant statue of Freya. This one only had one set of stairs leading towards the pool. Ying stripped out of her clothing and walked down the stairs into the water. The cold water reached her waist. She sighed as she dropped to her knees so the water could go over her shoulders. The water was not only cold, but _freezing_, but Ying leaned back so she could run her hands through her hair.

Back in Payon, an assassin of the Cross sat in a bar. Loud techno music was playing around him. In his drunken state, he couldn't make out all the words in the song. All he could hear was the constant, "Music, the music is now", and "Find the way to beat the pressure!" The song didn't seem to make sense, especially with its strange buzzing-like sound. Or maybe it was just because he was drunk.

"Live out your dream."

"Gimme another shot of whatever that was," slurred the assassin to the bartender. He picked up the glass once it was filled and downed it quickly.

"The pressure!" Shouted the voice from the speakers, and the song's beat quickened.

"Aslan!" shouted a voice. The assassin turned to the sound. A biochemist stood at his side. "We've gotten permission to leave."

The assassin looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Leave? Go where? To Jawaii for more drinks?"

The biochemist slapped a hand to his forehead. "To go find Ying and take her back; Lucifer has given us permission. But nevermind, looks like you'd rather drink yourself to death than try to come up with a way to save your girlfriend."

Aslan's eyes shifted out of focus. "I…" he began dizzily.

"You're despicable," the biochemist spat at the assassin. He turned on his heel and exited the bar.

"Live out your dream," whispered the music once again. Aslan buried his head in his hands.

Ying was returning to her room when she ran into the priest. He smiled at her. "We're leaving to Veins in a few minutes. Is there anything you need to take with you?" Ying shrugged. "Just my bag, I suppose."

The priest smiled again. "We'll be waiting for you at the front." With that, he disappeared.

When she arrived at the front doors, the three others were already waiting for her. The gunslinger smiled faintly when he saw her. "Alright, we're all here." He turned to the priest. "A prayer before we leave, if you please?" The priest nodded.

The three males lowered their heads. The priest's voice echoed through the lobby.

"Freya, we ask of you to watch over us on our journey. Give us the ability to make the right decisions, to think fast, to see quickly. Keep us safe while we travel to Veins. Amen."

With that, the gunslinger simply said, "Let's go."

The four exited the temple, the gunslinger in the front, the two thief classes in the centre, and the priest pulling a grand peco in the back. Ying sighed as she kept walking and looked up into the stars.

At the same time, the biochemist from Payon was getting ready to leave. A high priest knocked on his door. "Shin," the priest said with a nod. "Where's Aslan?" The chemist shrugged. "Too drunk to save his girlfriend, that's where." The priest shook his head. "Well, if he's not going, allow me to go with you."

Even at night, the deserts of Rael were warm, but the four of them continued to journey. A while later, when the young priest yawned and climbed onto the peco's back, the gunslinger and stalker agreed it was time for a rest. Shiro set the peco down and unrolled some sleeping mats. The gunslinger started a small fire for light, and he and Shiro talked in hushed voices while holding a map.

Ying turned to look at the sleeping priest. He was now lying curled up on one of the mats. Her face softened. He couldn't have been over thirteen years old. "Dear Lord," she sighed. "And already lost his only family."

The assassin yawned slightly and lay down on her mat, sleep washing over her quickly.


	9. Veins

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Eight: Veins**_

**New section begins now**

**Sorry, I uploaded this last night and forgot about chapter seven.**

**It's fixed now.  
**

Beins was a desert village in the state of Arunafeltz, but Effiel liked calling it Veins more. Death Veins, more like, he'd used to joke, a place like a body whose blood has already run dry, and like so, the city of Veins had no water pools, no rivers… no fountains like Rachel did. Veins was hotter than Morroc, even hotter than Rachel.

Effiel was a little feminine, a young boy with pale skin and light but quite long hair, but he never really minded. When he met people, he always insisted people pronounce his name as Eff-e-l, instead of Effle. He thought Effle sounded strange.

Even though Effiel had lived in Veins before, he could never get used to the heat. He remembered his happiness when his family moved to Rachel. When his family arrived, he and his sister lived in a large house with a swimming pool. Effiel was surprised. Water wasn't allowed to be wasted like that in Veins. But he was thankful. His sister had been a priestess in Veins, and he, following suit was trained as a priest of the golden-haired goddess, Freya. His parents worked in the temple as well, but mysteriously disappeared one day when they decided to go past the gate into the Holy Ground.

Effiel had been into the Holy Ground many times himself, but he was a priest, and his parents were mere workers of the temple, his father organized the seating in each room before every sermon, his mother worked full time at cleaning the main floor of the temple. His sister busied herself with preachings and devoting herself fully for Freya, but Effiel himself could not. His parents' disappearance was strange to him, and his faith for the temple dropped greatly since then.

There were five levels of the Holy Ground in total. Effiel himself had only been to the first three, as levels four and five are closed to only the pope, the high priests and high priestesses of Freya, or Freyja, as some called her, people who have been chosen by Freya herself; those who could communicate with the goddess.

But even though Effiel was not allowed into the last two floors of the Holy Ground, he had two friends who were. Vanberk, a high priest, and Isilla, a high priestess were the two closest friends he had met on his first day at the temple. They described to him to the best they could what the last two floors looked like, but Effiel could never piece together the information he was told. However, out of everything that he had been told, there was only one thing he could remember and understand. "There's a strange beast there sometimes. He appears once every evening. 'Gloom under Night', he's called," Isilla had said. "That creature that's like a firey ghost, with one arm black, one arm white with a pink pattern on it?" Vanberk asked. "They say he's a summoned creation of Freyja herself."

Effiel wanted to know more, but the two high priests never spoke of it again. Rumors began to spread of two priests, Agav and Echio a few months after. "Rumor has it that two priests saw Gloom under Night," Vanberk said one day. Effiel blinked. "They've decided to serve the Goddess's creation instead of the Goddess herself." Isilla gasped. "What treason to Freyja! She will be very upset when she hears this." Vanberk nodded. He ran a hand through his messy blue hair. The clock chimed three. He turned. "May you both excuse me, the pope would like to see me in a few minutes." He rose from his seat, smiled to both of them and placed a white mask to cover his face. Isilla smiled in return. "I should get going too." Effiel nodded to both of them, and the two high priests left.

A few days passed, and Effiel didn't hear from his two friends. "They must be busy," he thought with a shrug. "Rachel's recently opened its doors, so I guess it's expected that there'd be more people coming to the temple now. I should get working too!" Effiel did just that. He busied himself with his work, preaching about Freya to visitors from all over the kingdom of Rune-Midgard and the Schwartzweld Republic. He helped guide lost souls to the light of Freya.

Finally, exhausted after working the whole day, Effiel retreated to the place in the temple he loved the most. Located on the third floor of the Holy Ground, the garden had been Effiel's most favourite place. Though it was not equal to being outdoors, it was close enough, with its trees and soft green grass, something that was not available in Rachel or Veins. A man-made stream trickled through the stone blocks that linked one patch of grass to another with small stone bridges. A gazebo stood on one of the blocks, a chair placed under the blue arc. Sunlight lamps shone softly on the plants.

Effiel smiled. It was peaceful here. He could retreat from the visitors and their strange looks at him, thinking, "My goodness, he's just a child and already a priest?" Effiel lay under one of the trees on the grass, listening to the bubbling stream that flowed nearby. Many times he had fallen asleep here and woken up by another priest or priestess, but this time, no one came down, and he drifted.

He heard music in his dreams, the boy playing it; a girl dancing to it. He saw a long haired girl and a white haired boy standing side by side watching the show, the two talking to a long blonde haired woman. He couldn't remember the location, though it was sandy and dry like Rachel.

A long blonde haired woman.

Freya?

Effiel's eyes flashed open. He mustn't have slept for long, since the sunlight lamps were still shining brightly above him. The young priest wandered back up to the first floor of the Holy Ground. He headed towards a tall statue of Freya, one which stood in a small pool of water. Three blue crystals lay submerged under the water before her. Twelve tall candle stands with three candles stood around the statue. Effiel moved to every candle and lit them with a flame, lighting up the wall behind her with a soft peachy glow.

The priest moved knelt down before the statue. He knelt down on one knee, clasped his hands and lowered his head in prayer. "What was that dream about?" he asked, but there was no answer.

He stood up and brushed his light hair out of his eyes.

A strange group of people stood in the lobby of the temple when Effiel arrived back upstairs. Among them was a female lord knight with a long red cape and short purple hair. There was also a stalker, a gunslinger and a sniper, and many others, but Effiel only noticed those four at the time. The lord knight tilted her head slightly and smiled when she saw the priest. "You're so cute!" she chirped. "Please, do join us!"

The group had permission to stay and help out in the temple, and according to the other priests and priestesses, they were quite useful. Effiel's sister had joined the guild herself as well.

One day, Rachel had a formal party, and the temple had offered for it to be hosted in the main floor of the temple. Even the priests and priestesses attended. Saruki, Effiel's guildleader had appeared in the most beautiful blood red ballgown. Others arrived in similar ballgowns in lilacs, pale blues, dark purples and even blacks. Effiel's sister appeared in a pure white ballgown, though she was quite embarrassed and her face flushed red when Saruki meandered over and asked her, "So, Miya, you getting married?" Miya, Effiel's sister stared at the lord knight in shock and stuttered, "I—it's not this colour!" Saruki simply laughed and pulled Miya by the elbow to get her changed. It was Effiel's turn to blush when his sister returned with the lord knight, her dress now a deep rose pink instead of white. It complimented the light hair they both shared, and she looked beautiful.

The males also arrived in formal tuxedos of many different colours, traditional black and white, red, blue, green. Effiel himself did not wear one, he simply wore his priest clothing, but he noticed that the rest of his guild had. He felt a hand pat his head. "Hey, guildie," the voice spoke with an air of arrogance. The priest looked up. The sniper stood beside him. "It's a ball, you've got to be more formal than that." Effiel sighed. Leave it up for one of Saruki's groupies to tell him to change, not the priests themselves.

He dragged his feet back to his room and changed into his grey formal wear, but instead of returning to the party, he sneaked into the Holy Ground. Two strange people approached him. They were too far for him to see their faces, but he noticed they both wore masks. He looked closer. They were both holding something in each hand. When they were quite close, he realized that both people were slouching and barefoot. They both wore white clothing, clothing that symbolized that they were lower level servants of Gloom under Night. They both wore white masks, something that symbolized that they were high priests of Freya.

Effiel noticed that one was male and one was female. A flash caught his eye. A gold ring rested on the female's ring finger, and another ring on her index. He noticed the familiar blue hair of the male.

"Vanberk? Isilla?" He couldn't speak.

The male raised his weapon, a large knife, ready to strike.

Out of fear, Effiel ran out of the Holy Ground, through all the guests at the party and straight into his sister's arms.

The party finally ended and Effiel went straight to bed. He lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

"From the roof of my house, I can see the fountain in the main square," he remembered Isilla saying once.

"I know it's against the rules, but I want to ask Isilla to marry me. Think she'll do it?" The voice of Vanberk echoed in his head.

Effiel rolled onto his stomach and buried his face into his pillow. "Why?"

When the rumors of Gloom under Night reached the guild, Miya still wasn't convinced. She had worked in the temple long enough to know of the rumor, but she had never been around Effiel when Vanberk and Isilla gossiped with him. She hadn't seen Vanberk and Isilla, now that they've become Gloom's servants. She had no real friends that were high priests or high priestesses, so it wasn't surprising that she didn't believe the story. Saruki however, simply shrugged. "Either way," she said, "there's a creature there, a creation of Freya or no," and that was that.

Once again, the rumor of Gloom under Night remained unspoken of until Miya entered the room in which Saruki used as a meeting room one night. Effiel's sister appeared at the door with a white mask in hand. Saruki, seeing the flash of white, smiled in delight. "Congratulations!" she exclaimed, pulling Miya into a large hug. She let go of the new high priestess and waited for the girl to take her seat. When Miya was seated, the lord knight clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright! We've been nameless for who knows _how_ long, so it's about time we got a name for ourselves. Not in a bad way, of course, that would get us kicked out before Effiel could finish a prayer for dinner." Effiel heard his sister stifle a giggle and a soft snicker from a few people around him, but he kept his eyes on his leader. "So, I've decided on a name, which I personally think is awesome, but I'm not sure about you guys." She looked around to make sure everyone was listening. They weren't. "I was thinking either 'Cross' or 'Hearts'. But I'm worried that 'Cross' might get people here feel a little uneasy around us, since, you know, there are no crosses around here, since there are none in Freya-ism." Effiel himself bit his lip to stop himself from smiling at the word.

Saruki coughed to clear her throat. "So. Hearts it is, then. Any objections?" The lord knight moved a hand to rest on the hilt of her sword. Silence. "Thought not." She smiled. "Alright then! Dismissed."

Things went well for the longest while, until a week before Effiel's birthday. The guild repeatedly asked Miya to speak with the pope about Gloom under Night, yet she always insisted that the pope knew nothing of it. "Help us get into the Holy Ground then," the sniper had said simply, after Miya's protests. "You're a high priestess. You can help us get in."

"Titus!" Saruki's voice boomed from the other side of the room. "Please do not force our high priestess to do something she does not wish to do." The lord knight smiled at Miya. "If you're uncomfortable of doing it, don't worry."

Miya shook her head, though. "Not that I'm uncomfortable with it, I simply don't think it's right for me to be doing something like that, betraying Freya and letting those who she doesn't speak to in."

Titus simply laughed. "All those priests and priestesses here are just delusional. No one's talking to them. Freya doesn't exist. Even if she does, she doesn't care about us, she doesn't care about you. Prayers? She probably doesn't even listen to us. Saying Freya's a real goddess who listens to your prayers is like saying Santa Claus is a real man who really gives people presents at Christmas. Like saying the Easter Bunny is real." His voice sounded harsh and cold. A few members mumbled in agreement.

Miya took a step back. "You—You're wrong! If Freya didn't exist, what would Rachel be like now? I'd still be living in Veins, all of you wouldn't be here! She does exist, she does talk to me!" The high priestess choked back a sob.

Titus opened his mouth to speak, but Saruki raised a hand. The room fell silent.

"Like I said. If you don't wish to do it, Miya, you're not forced to. Titus. You know better than to say something like that, especially to people who are welcoming our stay. We are indebted to them, not the other way around. If not for the temple, where would we be? Living on the streets? Spending our time to pay for a place to stay? Use your head!"

The sniper glared icily at the lord knight, then shifted his glare to the high priestess.

The high priestess sighed. "I'll prove to you. I'll prove to you all that Gloom under Night is simply a rumor." The sniper rolled his eyes. "And what does that solve? I don't give a fuck about Gloom under Night. For all you know, he might be Freya though." He smirked. "That'd be funny. Walking up to Gloom under Night and he tells you he's Freya, then kills you on the spot."

The guild members around the sniper burst into peals of laughter. "Or maybe Gloom can shapeshift into Freya! Maybe he'll become one of the statues and knife people over while they're praying!" A mastersmith exclaimed, giggling. "Damn, I'd love to see that! A figure worshipped as a goddess killing people? That's hilarious," laughed a scholar.

Miya bit her lip. Not being able to stand the ridicule of her fellow guildmates, she ran out of the room, causing the few ridiculers to laugh even more.

A few days passed without anyone seeing Miyo. Effiel didn't notice, as a group of tourists had visited the temple and it was his job to guide them to the light of Freya.

Until then.

A young girl with long sandy hair lay on the cold ground of the Holy Ground, seemingly sleeping. But to those who went to try to wake her up, they knew better than that. A young boy with hair the same as the girl's gripped onto the girl's priestess clothing tightly, burying his head into her body. He could not stop the tears. It hurt him even more when he saw her face, covered by a white mask and a calm smile.

Burn marks and deep cuts covered the girl's body, and the boy didn't care that his clothing was being stained with her blood. He simply cried and cried. Normally when he cried, his sister would wrap her arms around him and calm him down, but not this time.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. The boy flinched. A voice.

"_I'm sorry."_

The guild of Hearts left the temple the next day.


	10. On your way back

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Nine: On your way back**_

A deafening roar woke the four from their slumber. A large wolf stood before them, brandishing an axe. The gunslinger and Shiro immediately scrambled for their weapons. Ying pulled the priest closer towards her.

Three Galion peered out at the four journeyers from behind the large wolf. Their red eyes targeted the young priest, and they stepped forewards, black liquid dripping from their mouths as they snarled in unison. The priest froze. "It's Atros!" he exclaimed as the large wolf roared again.

The gunslinger raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at the priest, but his Garrison was still raised, ready to fire. Shiro pulled out a small combat knife. "I'll get the smaller ones. You aim for the wolf," the stalker said to his gun-wielding partner. "Ying, please take care of Effiel." The assassin nodded.

The gunslinger and the stalker started their assault on the wolf pack. For a while, the assault was steady, until the gunslinger pulled on the trigger once more. The crack of gunshot never came.

"_Fuck_!" roared the gunslinger. Atros forcefully brought down his axe, which missed the gunslinger by a hair's breadth. The gun-wielder backed out next to Ying. "I gotta reload," he shouted to Shiro. "I'll be back there with you in a minute."

"Well, hurry the fuck up!" the stalker shouted in reply. "I don't know how long of this I can take on my own!"

Ying sighed. She wandered over to the peco and tugged on one of the bags, ignoring the bickering of the gunslinger and stalker as they attacked the large beast. Four yellow flower-like berries dropped to the floor, as well as a pair of shiny blades. She grinned. "Sweet."

The assassin swiftly cloaked herself after she picked up the blades and the berries. The gunslinger and the priest heard a soft click behind them, but no one was there. The gunslinger raised an eyebrow. Hiw eyes widened when he noticed the assassin was missing.

_Where the hell is Ying?_

The stalker kept his attack strong, but he himself began to tire after a while. Suddenly, the large wolf began to twitch and howl in pain. Shiro blinked and backed away. Silver metal glinted in the morning light.

"Sonic blow!" A voice exclaimed. The wolf roared and brought down his axe, but his eyes widened when his large weapon sliced through air. Ying smiled at the beast and charged at him again. The wolf slashed again and again. Again and again, Atros missed the assassin. She twirled and danced around him, attacking him whenever she had the opening, and stepping out right as his axe was about to hit. As she did, she cocked her head to the side and stared at the gunslinger and stalker. "Well?" she asked. "Aren't you going to help me so we can get going?"

The gunslinger and stalker stared at each other, shrugged, then joined in the fight.

Meanwhile, in Veins, two sword-class females sat side by side on the roof of the building they lived in. One was a lord knight; the other a crusader. The lord knight's silvery white hair was tied up in a bun. An Alice doll sat on her head. The crusader beside her had long blue hair covered by Morrigane's helm. She had her rosary clasped tightly in her hand. Both were dressed in the lavish colours of white, silver and gold.

The lord knight stared at the crusader. "You really shouldn't still be wearing that," she commented. The crusader stared back. "Why not? You're the one in the female lord knight oufit, Aika."

The one named Aikaryu shrugged. He brushed a lock of hair from his eyes. "I prefer dressing this way," he replied. The crusader smiled. "Then I should be allowed to too. You know as much as I do how much I hate the paladin armor," she complained. "It makes me look fat." Aikaryu frowned. "And give up wearing the mi-ni-skirt?" he chided, stretching the last word into three distinct syllables. The paladin turned to her companion and raised an eyebrow. "You have your own miniskirt," she responded. "Why do you need mine too? Plus, I don't like wearing skirts as much as you."

Aika grinned. "Because I look better in it than you do!" The crusader rolled her eyes. "Sure." She paused for a moment; then stood up slowly. "Time to get back to work," she said smiling.

She faced the lord knight and raised up a hand. "Gloria Domini," she chanted and walked away as her companion lay sprawled out; crushed under a giant crystal-like cross.

The paladin entered a lavish room. She smiled warmly at a sniper which sat at the end of the room. His long brown hair was covered by a cap similar to Shiro's. He was dressed in all black. He smiled in return. The paladin moved quickly into the sniper's arms. He kissed her gently. "Hazel," she mumbled.

Back in the field, the large wolf roared loudly and finally fell to his knees. Effiel worked right away on healing a giant wound Ying had gotten when Atros unexpectedly ran his axe down the assassin's shoulder. She smiled and mumbled a thanks. He blushed slightly and looked away quickly, causing the assassin to smile again. Effiel healed the wounds of Shiro and the gunslinger as well before he gave the OK to continue traveling, but before they did, the four travelers sat down to have a quick meal of cheese and bread.

"Kyrie Eleison! Magnificat! Gloria!" Effiel chanted. Ghostly girls with hymn books appeared above them, their song an angelic chorus.

The rest of the trip went quite smoothly, Effiel keeping to himself while Shiro and the gunslinger conversed quietly.

Finally, Ying saw sandy buildings in the distance. Shiro grinned.

"_We're home."_


	11. Welcome To Our World

Assassin from Hell

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Ten: Welcome to Our World**_

A sorrowful theme rang through Veins. Nestled in the canyon valley by the Thor Volcano, every note that was played bounced off the tall cliffs that surrounded the village -- no, small city. It has grown much since Effiel had last been there.

With the discovery of Hetarium, Veins had begin to prosper. And with that prosperity, what city could not grow?

Another note echoed off the cliffs. A slow song, melting into the sunset welcomed the travelers to Veins. A minstrel sat in the square with his lute. His long fingers plucked the strings which created the melody. Before him was a gypsy, twirling, and hopping lightly from one foot to another. The light translucent fabric that covered her arms trailed behind her gently, the golden chains and bracelets on her wrists and ankles jingled. Noticing the four travelers, the gypsy turned to face them and bowed.

Ying blinked, noticing that there were two small horns peeking out of the gypsy's long blonde hair.

The gypsy straightened herself and ran straight towards the priest. She pulled him into a hug and tugged on his hair.

Effiel smiled in spite of himself. For a return to a place he had grown to dislike, he never realized how much he missed Veins till now.

"Man, you've grown!" She exclaimed, laughing. "How's things been?"

Shiroi appeared between Ying and Effiel and smiled. "It's been a while, Succu," he said, raising a hand towards the gypsy in greeting.

She grinned at the stalker's voice. "Shiroi!

The stalker smiled. "I'll talk to you in a moment, I need to drop off these two duckies to the guild first," he said while placing one hand on Ying and his other on Effiel's head.

Succubus laughed. "Alright, I'll see you later." She winked, and nodded to the minstrel. The minstrel flashed the gypsy a thumbs up.

The music began to play again.

* * *

Back in Payon, a certain assassin of the Cross was pissed off.

"What do you mean he left without me?!" he shouted when Lucifer finally told him that Shin, the guild's biochemist was gone. Not that it was normally a big deal, but when he's the head of the alchemy "department" of the guild, that's somewhat of a problem.

Aslan wasn't very good at making poisons, and with his girlfriend kidnapped and his poison items keeper on a "voluntary rescuing mission", and with his poison stock run out weeks before, it's not good.

Every member in the guild at that time was pretty scared of the assassin, since a sharp throwing knife would be hurled in their direction if anyone dared to make even contact with him.

So obviously, for the longest time, no one was brave enough to tell him where Ying had gone, and what had happened.

"Well, don't you have a warp to Rachel?" Aslan demanded, when he finally got the answer he was looking for.

Lucifer shrugged. "Sure I do. But what are you gonna do when you get there? I don't have any more people to spare on this mission, and since Shin and Montblanc haven't reported me on their current status on the same mission, why should you go? What good would you do them? Get drunk again in Rachel? What happens if they get you too? Hell, I don't have any idea if they got those two now."

Aslan cringed as Lucifer began ranting about the whole incident.

Suddenly, a warp portal opened on the ground.

"Alright, whatever, go. You have two days. After two days, if I don't get any message from either you or them, I'm calling you all back, no questions asked."

Aslan nodded and stepped into the glowing portal.

* * *

The Hearts guild in Veins wasn't as glorious as the Hell guild in Payon, but _damn_, it was huge.

And even though it was so large, there was no room for the poor assassin to stay in.

"We never expected for Shiroi and Blue to bring another guest with them, so we have no spare room prepared for you," Saruki explained kindly. "This place may look large, but most of the rooms that are large enough already have two people in them."

"How did this place get so many people so quickly?" asked Blue, the gunslinger who had been with them.

Saruki sighed. "Like I said in that message I sent to you and Shiroi, Titus took over Hearts and was the one who ordered for you three to leave the Rachel Temple. You know him; he never liked the temple in the first place. He's recruited more members in hopes to take down Hell. Not sure what they ever did to us, but I guess something did something to him to get him pissed."

Effiel froze. Titus was a name he had hoped he never had to hear again. The person who had ridiculed his sister and their religion, he was the person who had caused his sister to die. The young priest balled both his hands into fists.

Ying looked worriedly at Effiel. She didn't understand what was going on, but something seemed to get the priest angry. She turned to look at Shiroi and the gunslinger.

"Hm, and who's this? New recruit?" Saruki asked, looking at Ying.

Shiroi shook his head. "This is Ying," he answered. "We found her wandering in Rachel early in the morning one day and Blue accidentally shot her while she was in the temple." He flashed a look at Blue and the gunslinger nodded.

"Quite the messup, wouldn't you think? It's lucky that no one reported that to the temple, else we'd really never be able to go back there," Saruki replied. "Anyway, like I said before, I'm sorry we didn't prepare you a room, but I'm sure one of the captains wouldn't mind sharing their room with you."

* * *

There were no "captains" in Hell, just "heads of 'departments'". Ying herself was a department head, but she considered herself more of a shepherd. She led the rookies to places where they could train and made sure they kept out of too much danger. The other department heads were of the merchants and alchemy, alchemists and biochemists who made acids, potions and the merchants who kept inventory of items for the guild. There were other ones too, but most of those departments weren't used, only during missions and guild wars, which weren't too often.

Anyway, Ying didn't know who those captains were, but she didn't need to take long to find out.

There were three captains in Hearts. These three captains were like dorm heads, keeping the large number of members in the guild happy with their rooms and such. There was a champion, Kuroi, a paladin Misei, and a lord knight, Aikaryu.

Unfortunately, Misei shared her room with a sniper and Aikaryu shared his room with an assassin.

The room Kuroi stayed in wasn't hers to belong with.

It belonged to…

Kuroi and Shiroi stood side by side infront of Ying. The assassin blinked.

Kuroi dressed in black clothing, Shiroi dressed in white.

If you ignored the fact that they were of different genders, they looked almost alike.

Almost.

Ying noticed that Shiroi was noticeably taller.

"Meet my sister, Kuroi," Shiroi said to Ying as he pulled his the champion towards him and grinned.

"Meet this girl I met in Rachel, Ying," the stalker turned to the champion. "Now get out of my room."

The champion put her hands on her hips. "Your room? Who's been forcefully put in charge of the people here for the time you were gone?"

Shiroi smiled. "Be nice now. What's-her-face probably misses her roommate, you know?"

Kuroi rolled her eyes. Shiroi's smile turned into a grin. "That's a good girl. While you're at it, can you bring Ying to Aikara? Tell her Ying needs to borrow some assassin gear."

His sister nodded and mock-saluted. "Yes sir! Right away, sir!" She turned to Ying. "Let's go."

The assassin followed silently.

* * *

Aikara's room was in the other side of the building. When the two arrived in front of it, Kuroi knocked on the door and stepped back. "Kara," she said.

A silver haired girl in a white assassin of the Cross uniform opened the door slightly. Her head peeked out though the crack. "Kuroi. Can I help you?"

The champion gestured to Ying. "This is a guest Shiroi brought with him when he returned. She hasn't gotten anything with her, so he would like to know if she can borrow some."

Aikara smiled and pushed the door open. "Certainly, come in."

Inside the room, There was an obvious split down the centre. One side was neat, a bed made, not a speck of dirt on the floor. The other side was messy, with armor and swords and blankets thrown on the floor, papers and books scattered around the table. Another silver haired person leaned on the bed, back propped up against the wall, left leg crossed over their right. The person looked up from their book.

Kuroi bowed. "Sorry for the intrusion, sir."

The person on the bed waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. But I would've cleaned up a little if I knew someone was coming."

"Great first impression, Aika," snickered Kara.

Kuroi coughed. "Anyway, I'll leave her to you, alright?" Kara nodded. "See you around."

"See you later, Ying," the champion smiled and closed the door behind her.

"So, normal assassin clothing, huh?"

Ying nodded silently.

"Any preferred colour?"

"Black," she answered quietly.

"Alrighty," Kara replied, pulling out a chest underneath her bed. She opened it up and began taking out the clothing from inside. She stopped when she found a black outfit and put all the others back inside the chest.

"Don't worry if you break it, I don't wear these anymore."

Ying noticed that the clothing in her arms was lighter than the ones she'd worn in a while.

"Is there anything else you need?"

Ying thought for a moment. "Poisons, and katars, if you have any to spare, please."

Kara frowned slightly. "I have the katars, but for the poisons, I have barely enough myself. I just haven't enough time to make any." She pushed the chest back under the bed and walked over to a shelf at the end of her bed. There was a cupboard at the bottom of the shelf, and she opened it. Inside were some red bottles and a few boxes, all labeled. The bottom shelf of the cupboard shimmered, the metal of katars and daggers reflecting the candlelight.

"Take whatever you need," Kara smiled, and paused for a second. "Ah, would you try that on for a moment? I'll need to get someone to make it fit you if it doesn't."

Ying nodded again, but didn't move.

Kara laughed slightly. "Alright. Aika, come out with me. Just open the door when you're done, Ying."

The two of them walked out the door, closing it behind them.

Ying slipped into the assassin clothing.

No wonder it was lighter than usual—it _was _assassin clothing.

"I guess being an assassin is better than being one of the Cross," Ying mumbled to herself.

The assassin turned back to the cupboard and looked once again at the boxes inside. They were labeled with "Venom canine", "Cactus needle", "Bee sting", "Poison Spore", and "Karvodailnirol". Beside those boxes were two types of bottles, one filled with an orange liquid, and another empty.

Ying slipped some of each into folds of her clothing. She gently placed an infiltrator on top and tied the clothing into a bundle. She picked the bundle up and opened the door. Aika and Kara stood outside, leaning against the wall.

"Perfect fit!" Kara cried. "No need to change anything. I love it when that happens," she smiled. "Come back if you ever need anything."

* * *

When Ying returned back to the other side, Shiroi was waiting for her.

"Did you get lost?" He asked, grinning. "What took you so long?"

His eyes looked her up and down. "It's nice to see you got what you needed."

"I got everything except a room to sleep in."

"Sure you do." Shiroi jabbed a thumb in the direction of his room.

"You're kidding."

"Normally, I would, but I've got a meeting to go to in a few minutes and by the time it's over, chances are, I won't be in the mood, or have the energy to argue or joke with you anymore. You either get a room now or sleep out here on the floor, because you won't be able to get one later."

Ying sighed in defeat and wandered into the room.

Unlike Kara's, the room had only one large bed. A set of clothing lay on one side of the bed, a pattern of white and pink flowers with green leaves on a rich red background.

"Kuroi left that for you," Shiroi answered before Ying could even pick it up. "It's a yukata for sleep."

Saying that, he turned for the door. "I'm going for a bit. Kuroi will be with me at the meeting, so if you need any help with anything, go bang around on the doors. Someone will help you."

_Damn, that was reassuring._

* * *

Finally alone in the room, Ying changed out of the assassin's clothing and into the yukata. She folded up the black uniform and placed it on the table on one side of the bed. The assassin then turned to the bundle. She untied it and placed the items on the floor. The infiltrator was placed on top of the uniform and the dress she had used to hold all the items folded up and placed in a drawer under the table.

Ying gently put a venom canine, cactus needle, bee sting and poison spore in each empty bottle. Little tubes of karvodailnirol and bottles of berserk potions clinked as she gently picked them up and uncapped them. She poured one of the vials of chemical into one bottle of potion, swirled it around gently and poured that combination into the bottle. She watched as the contents of each bottle slowly melt; eaten by the chemical and turn red.

After the poison was made, Ying hid all the bottles in the drawer with her clothing. She gently placed them on top of her dress, making sure they were put in a way that they wouldn't clink together when the drawer was opened. A cracked poison bottle was bad, especially for the next person who touched anything in that area, for the chance of poison spilt unnoticed was fairly high and common.

With that all done, the assassin wandered outside.

* * *

When all the captains were present in the meeting hall, Titus began. "There's been talk of suspicious members wandering around Rachel lately. It's rumored that they're members o f Hell."

"More of them?" Misei asked. Titus nodded. "Hell had accepted the mission to assassinate the target, yet according to my sources, the assassinator had never returned to their base. Most likely, Hell is looking for their missing assassin. Furthermore, they had sent a rookie to do an elite's job. It was a bad choice on their part."

"Keep your eyes on the lookout," Titus commanded. "They have not come here, but once they do, it will be Hell's downfall."

"Dismissed."

As Kara and Aika returned to their room, the assassin turned to her brother. "I noticed some of my bottles are missing."

"Bottles?" Aika asked. "Perhaps Ying really took some of your poisons?"

Kara shook her head. "Not those bottles. The beserk and empty ones."

The lord knight shrugged. "Well, you did tell her that you're low on poisons. Perhaps she took some of the ingredients?"

Kara shook her head again. "She's a rookie assassin. She can't make poisons. The only way would be if she took them, thinking Shiroi could make them."

"That wouldn't be too bad, actually. Those stalker outfits are pretty hot," Aika grinned.

Kara rolled her eyes.

* * *

The stars shone bright in the sky.

Ying leaned back against the hard sandy rooftop, hands behind her head. She closed her eyes, thinking of everyone back in Payon. How was Lucifer? Was he handling the rookies well? Who did he put in her place for the time being to guide them?

What were they doing now? Perhaps sitting outside having chilled sake like they would on any warm night?

Ying missed the green shade of tall trees and cooler air.

She missed the times when there was someone to lean back to, someone who would hold her in their arms.

Ying sat up. Her vision blurred, and when she wiped her eyes, she noticed her fingertips were wet.

It had been only a week, and normally missions she went on lasted for longer, but this time seemed so different.

"Why did I agree to come with them?"

"Why didn't I just escape while I had the chance?"

Ying leaned back once again, expecting her back to hit the hard sandy flat roof, but instead, she landed on something a little bit softer.

He was dressed in a yukata of his own, one of a deep royal blue, contrasting with his white hair.

"Careful there," he said softly. "Don't hurt yourself."

She turned around to face him. "Shiroi…" she mumbled.

The stalker wore a gentle smile on his face, but it vanished when he saw her expression. "Is there something wrong?"

Before Ying knew what was going on, she had buried her head in his chest. Tears fell out uncontrollably.

"It's all right. I'm here," he said in the same soft tone, "tell me whatever you need to, take your time."

He pulled his arms around the assassin and the two of them sat on the roof of the guild house until the assassin finally drifted asleep.


	12. A trip to the Mountains

**Assassin from Hell**

**A twisted love story**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

_**Chapter Eleven: A trip to the Mountains**_

**For some random reason, I lost this chapter while reformatting my computer. **

**But here it is now.**

Titus stood in front of a large window, twirling a flower in his hand. A person, a stalker knelt before him. "Sir, two people have entered the Veins region," he reported. The sniper grinned. "Call up the attackers. Capture them as soon as possible." Titus gripped the flower. When he let go, the flower dropped to the ground, its loosened and crumpled petals floating gently down from his hand, landing next to the destroyed plant.

* * *

Ying felt her surroundings were soft and warm. She opened her eyes slowly. The morning sun shone softly into the room.

'Wasn't I outside on the roof last night? How did I get back in here?' The puzzled assassin asked herself quietly.

She heard a soft laugh and felt a hand on her head.

"Good morning," the voice said. "I was wondering when you'd wake up." The voice laughed again.

Ying looked down on what she had been sleeping on, and it took her a few seconds to realize what it was. When she did, she quickly rolled off his chest and sat up.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, feeling a blush creep up her face. The stalker lay on his back beside her in a strange position which was neither completely sitting up nor lying down. His blue shirt was untied and hung open, showing his golden bare chest.

Shiroi grinned. "Don't worry about it. You've been sleeping like that all night."

Ying felt her face flush even redder. She dropped face first into her pillow.

"Come on, get changed. You don't want to miss breakfast, do you?"

Ying dashed into the bathroom with her black uniform in hand.

* * *

After a quick breakfast, Shiroi took Ying to a room he called a "sparring room". The walls were covered in wooden planks, the ground with mats made of dried grass. Wooden swords hung on one of the walls."Come hit me with whatever you've got", he said smiling. He pulled himself into a defense position, a combat knife in hand.

Ying nodded. She heard the familiar soft click as her hands gripped her katars. She cloaked herself and ran towards her opponent.

* * *

"Where are we?" A biochemist asked a high priest by his side. His companion shrugged. "Somewhere on the outskirts of Rachel still, probably." The two of them looked at the yellow-green of the landscape before them. Strange rattling plants grew from the ground, and large black dog-like creatures barked at them, their eyes sharp, their paws ready to attack it the two wandered too close to them.

The biochemist frowned. "We'll never find her, Shin. Lucifer was wrong to think we'd find her."

The high priest grabbed his partner's arm. "We'll find her, Montblanc, definitely." Montblank shook his head at Shin's comment. "I doubt it. She said that something was wrong, but she didn't say _where_ she was going. _We'll never find her!_ She could've gone to Prontera for all we know. It's a fucking wild goose chase."

Shin grinned. "I doubt it. If she were in Prontera, she would've found someone and gotten at least a message home already. The only place we have no allies is in Arunadfeltz."

The chemist rolled his eyes. "Well, this place is still huge. She could've gone to the Nameless Island or gotten lost in Thor's Volcano. There's no way in hell I'm going to either of those places, mind you."

The priest grinned again. "I don't think we have to. Look at that nice welcoming party."

* * *

"You're good," Shiroi said. He held Ying in his arms, this combat knife, blade down, pressed against her neck. "If I didn't hold this upside down, I would've killed you."

'_That's because I haven't been fighting with my all,_' Ying thought to herself. She had limited herself to the strength the equivalent of an assassin, the same amount of strength she used when she trained the rookies at home in hand to hand combat.

Shiroi dropped to the ground, pulling the assassin down with him. They sat leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, both of them trying to catch their breath.

Suddenly, loud shouts echoed from the hall outside, accompanied with loud footsteps. Shiroi opened the door to the hall and stopped one of the people running by. "What's going on?" The person who the stalker had stopped, a knight, turned and bowed shallowly. "I'm not sure, sir," he reported. He looked over Shiroi's shoulder and continued quietly. "According to others, two intruders have been captured. They've been rumored to be Hell members,"

Shiroi nodded. "Alright. On your way, please call Kuroi to this room. Tell her I am looking for her." The knight saluted and left.

A few moments later, Ying heard a gentle knock on the door. When Shiroi opened the door, a familiar champion stood before him. He muttered something in a language Ying didn't understand, but Kuroi seemed to know what he was saying. She nodded and followed him into the room, closing the door behind her and stepped into the middle of the room. She closed her eyes, raising her arms nearly straight in front of her, her palms facing outward.

Something small, white and glowing appeared before her, spinning slowly, like a whirlpool.

Shiroi smiled at Ying kindly, and taking her hand, guided her into the light.

* * *

When the bright light faded, Ying found Shiroi, Kuroi and herself in a lush green field, surrounded by large flowers, their petals floating gently in the soft breeze. Hornets fluttered from one flower to the next, collecting nectar.

The three of them stood in awe at their surroundings. "I came here once a long time ago," Shiroi explained. "with a friend. She loved this place, and I thought you would too." Kuroi smiled at her brother's reasoning. "The two of us come here a lot on our own. Especially when Titus is having a fit, which was pretty often." She laughed. "No one wants to be around when he's angry."

* * *

"Hey, Montblanc. Wake up," a voice urged. The biochemist sleepily opened his eyes, letting them time to adjust. Candle-lit lamps hung from the walls in the hallway, and with that light, he could see that the wall facing the hallway was barred. "…Where are we?" Montblanc asked, his eyes still looking at the metal bars. "All I can remember is being welcomed by the welcoming committee, then getting completely outnumbered and knocked out, but that's about it."

"We're in some dungeon, obviously," replied the voice. A soft blue glow appeared and faded beside him. The biochemist turned to look at the light, and saw Shin sitting beside him, a ruwach spinning slowly around him. Shin shrugged. "Thought we needed a bit more light," he said. "But anyway, we need a way to get out of here."

A moment later, Montblanc jumped up. Shin stared at him. "What've you got?" The biochemist smiled, but didn't answer. He pulled two bottles out of his pouch. One of them was a clear liquid in a half-full bottle with a small piece of fabric tied to the neck, the other was a green bottle. Montblanc poured the contents of the green bottle in the other, swirling it gently to mix the two liquids together. The liquid nearly spilling out, he took the fabric and stuffed it inside, making sure there was a little bit of dry fabric left sticking out. He pulled out a match, and, swiftly lighting it, placed the flame to the fabric, igniting it.

Then he threw it, the bottle landing right under the bars.

The explosion gave a deafening boom, and Shin quickly cast a Kyrie Eleison and shut his eyes, hiding his head under his arms. He felt as if the sand ceiling were going to collapse on him, but when he looked up, all he saw was Montblanc was standing on top of the broken metal, looking smug. The chemist raised a hand in beckoning.

"Let's go!"

The two of them grinned at each other, high-fived, and raced out the hall and up the stairs.

"Are you sure you saw her though?"

Montblanc grinned a wolfish grin. "Sure did. Let's get out of here."

The two of them dissappeared with a flash of white light.

* * *

The sun had gone down when the three of them returned to the Hearts guild. By the time they returned, Titus had ordered another meeting, so the siblings headed towards the meeting room, leaving Ying alone to explore the rest of the building.

Ying found herself in a strange hall she had never been in before. Rooms on her right and left were opened, most of them filled with weapons

"You! What're you doing here?" Ying felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She saw a person stare into her eyes, his mouth twitching into a sadistic grin as she fell into the darkness.

* * *

Everyone in the meeting room turned when they heard a knock against the door. They all saw a rogue appear with a girl in his arms.

"Can't you see you're interrupting?" asked Misei, taking a step towards the newcomer, but Titus raised a hand to stop the paladin. The rogue shrugged and placed the girl on the table. Blood had been seeping out on a wound on her shoulder, and some of her blood had gotten on the rogue's clothes, but he didn't seem to notice.

"This is the intruder everyone's been talking about since last night," the rogue said sharply. "That's all I came to report on."

Titus couldn't stop a smile of his own from spreading across his face. "Excellent." He turned to the others who were in the room. "And because of this... Dismissed."

Kuroi stood up and bowed slightly. When she stood up straight again, she motioned to the unconscious girl. "What about her?"

Titus's smile widened. "Men, enjoy yourselves. Do whatever you'd like with her. Then, kill her." He stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets and left.

Misei stood up to leave, motioning to Kuroi and Aikara to do the same. The others clustered around the table, perverted grins plastered to their faces.

"Hey, what's with her?" One of them asked.

"Is she dead already?" Another asked.

"No way," the rogue said, grinning. "Just poisoned a bit, at least we can have some fun until she's _really_ gone."

The others began clustering again around the girl, but Shiroi simply stood at the back, his face in a mask of shock. One of the men turned around. "Heey. Shiro. What's with you?" The scholar smirked. "Want her, don't you?" He turned to the men beside him. "Let Shiro go first," he said. "Since we're kind and sharing people."

* * *

Ying's eyes fluttered open slowly. She felt a familiar feeling of poison spreading throughout her body. Her hand moved silently to her waist, yet her katars were gone. Her eyes began to blur. 'This poison is stronger, but works slower than the ones I use out of combat,' she thought. "It must be…"

She heard a faint voice. "Go ahead, Shiro. Do whatever you'd like with her. We'd all like to see." Cruel laughs. Yet, she couldn't see their faces.

Strange.

A strong hand pressed her down against the table. Ying saw a blur of white. "Shi—" she tried to call his name, but she couldn't. "Shh." The voice whispered. "Don't move until I tell you to." She felt something cold touch her fingers. The assassin reached out and gripped the handle, sliding the blade beneath her back.

"Get on with it already!" voices jeered from behind Shiroi. The stalker turned around and shot everyone a glare. The room finally silent, he turned to Ying again.

The stalker placed soft airy kisses down the assassin's neck. He felt a small shudder pass through her body, but still continued. He stopped at the bottom of her neck, and, pulling the black fabric away, placed his lips there. He paused, eyeing the dark streaks of blood that covered her shoulder, most of them still wet. He dragged the tip of his tongue from her neck to her shoulder, cleaning up the blood.

"Stop…" the assassin mumbled quietly. "Shiro— I…"

With the metallic taste in his mouth, he pressed his lips against hers. As he lifted himself off her, he said simply one word.

"Go."

The assassin, as if under a trance, pulled the dagger from behind her and stood up. It took her a moment to completely balance, yet for those few seconds, no one moved.

The scholar flashed a glare at the rogue. "I thought you said she was really out cold!" he accused. The rogue simply stared.

"Anyway," The scholar raised his staff towards the assassin and the stalker. "Get her!"

The men charged at her, striking with the intent to kill, yet their strikes all missed. Ying glided and slipped away from their attacks as if she were a marionette, controlled by a master puppeteer. Her brown eyes seemed sleepy, yet they had a threatening edge to them.

She lifted her blade and took a step forward.

"Die."

_'She's going to kill them!'_

The thought rang though the stalker's mind. Shiroi grabbed her by the wrist, causing her to drop the blade. He lifted her into his arms and ran down the hall.

The others began to pick themselves up, but they were stopped by another figure who stood in the doorway. His long silver hair was tied up in a high ponytail, a hand playing with silvery strands that were too short to be tied up. "Come now, gentlemen." His voice was melodious. "Shouldn't we let him continue with his fun?" His spare hand reached to the hilt of his sword.

Everyone before him dropped their weapons. The lord knight smiled. "I knew you'd agree with me."

* * *

"Kuroi. I need you to help me. Quickly."

The champion heard a familiar voice. But this time, it wasn't mocking or sarcastic. He seemed urgent and she heard pain in his voice. But he _was_ her brother still, and it _was _her job to help him however she could. Kuroi sighed and opened the door.

Her brother stood at the door, his clothes stained red like the rogue's had been. He pulled his sister down the hall to his room. There, she saw the assassin lying on the bed, her left shoulder hastily bandaged.

"I've tried everything, and it's not stopping," he sounded like a frustrated child, nearly on the verge of tears.

"What isn't?" Kuroi asked.

"The poison."

Kuroi blinked. "Wait a second. What poison? No one said she was poisoned!"

"But it has to be!" The stalker cried. "Nothing except for poison could make her health decrease like that!"

Kuroi sighed. "I knew it. You've asked for the wrong person. You should be asking for a priest, not me," but she raised up both hands and chanted quietly. A green glow surrounded Ying, and she seemed she had regained her strength, but it faded as fast as the glow did.

"Hm."

Ying twitched her finger slightly. 'Looks like I'm still here…' she thought to herself. She could still feel her energy getting sapped away by the poison, and her body was beginning to feel numb.

Kuroi finally lowered her hands. "Cure!" she chanted, and with that she turned to face her brother. "That's all I can do for her for now, and she should be okay. Keep an eye on her anyway, though, and call me if something happens. Anything."

And she was gone.

The moon was already high in the sky, and Shiroi knew it was already late. He stripped out of his blood- stained clothing, climbed into bed, and wrapped his arms protectively around the assassin.

"Please… don't go."

* * *

_Horrible attempt at anything remotely romantic. Is this even considered romance?_


End file.
